


McPriceley Soulmate AU - RP Story

by Sollux_Kleinman



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, High School AU, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tattoos, soulmate tattoo au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 04:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14204601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sollux_Kleinman/pseuds/Sollux_Kleinman
Summary: This is an RP I did with the wonderful Kat from the Book of Mormon amino! I played Kevin and she played Connor! I'll add more chapters as we continue to RP! :DHer amino account:http://aminoapps.com/p/hw4gkcHer Archive of our Own account:https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmAfrica/pseuds/IAmAfrica/works





	1. The Tattoo

Connor had just come from dance class, his absolute favourite elective. Dance was kind of like an escape for him. He could dance away his problems, and pretend they didn't exist.  
He wished, with all of his heart, that he could do the same with the one thing he hated most about himself. The gosh darn mark on his hipbone, that confirmed he was a complete sinner. It confirmed he was something he didn't want to be. 

It was practically an express ticket to Hell. 

He stood at his locker, checking his bag to make sure he had everything for his next class, history. Once he was sure he had everything he needed, he put his dance shoes on the top shelf, and hurried to the classroom, which was luckily only a few doors down.

Kevin was surrounded by tons of friends, as per usual. Each was listening to every word he had to say and he loved every second of it. Heck, he even had one particular girl who carried his books for him to each class.

It was unfortunate none of those girl's names were his tattoo.

Luckily, his tattoo was in a discrete enough place that he wasn't forced to show it off all the time. Just under the waistband of his pants read:

Connor.

It didn't make sense to Kevin. How could he go to hell for being born with a soulmate that's a boy?

But, instead of openly questioning the church, Kevin laid low, following the rules precisely and telling everyone his soulmate's name was Connie.

Kevin had spaced out so much he almost missed the door to his history class. Grabbing his books from the girl who was having a giggle fit, he walked inside and slumped into his seat.

Connor turned in his seat, knowing exactly who had entered the room. He always knew when the boy was close by, due to the chatter and the giggles he'd hear. He had to admit, he found Kevin Price extremely attractive. His physical features, his personality, the way he smiled all were something to marvel over for Connor.

Sadly, he had heard from Chris and Naba, who were very up to date on these kind of things, that Kevin's tattoo was the name of a girl named Connie. 

Sure, he was a bit disappointed. When he had heard that the most perfect guy in the school's name was Kevin, his heart fluttered like an eager butterfly. Maybe being g—he still couldn't bring himself to even think it— wouldn't be so bad. 

He figured that *his* Kevin would be just as perfect, though. So, he had managed to convince himself he was over Kevin Price. He would just... turn off the feelings.

He realized he was staring, and mentally kicked himself. Luckily, he was saved by the teacher starting up the lesson. He wouldn't have to dwell on the embarrassment for too long, since he'd easily get distracted by whatever the teacher had to say. He absolutely loved history.

Kevin sat up straight and paid attention, just as he always did. But today was different, for a second he swore he saw that boy in the back of the class staring at him.

Not that that was unusual. No, Kevin was definitely used to the stares and giggles he earned from his classmates, but somehow this boy felt, different.

Kevin wondered what his name was.

Pushing that thought from his mind, Kevin began to take notes. He didn't need to know the boy's name because even if his name was Connor he wouldn't be able to do anything about it because it was wrong. Kevin didn't need a soulmate because he was going to heaven. As long as he didn't mess things up he was going to planet Orlando and this would all be worth it.

It took all of Connor's self control to stop himself from turning back to Kevin. He had this feeling, like he *needed* to see another glimpse of the boy's hair, or his eyes-

No, he didn't. That was bad, and he knew it. As far as lying about his soulmate went, he told everyone except for his closest friends that he was one of the people who had no soulmate. If he was asked, he said that as far as he knew, there was no name. 

But then, his nightly hell dream would be even worse, because he had told a lie.

His face was almost buried into his notes. He was taking a large amount of them, so he'd be able to have a good study foundation.

Kevin nearly snapped the pencil in his hand. He felt like someone was staring into the back of his skull, maybe if he just turned around for a second-

No. He didn't need to do that, he just needed to focus on his work. He was probably just a bit tired from studying and that was messing with his brain.

Yeah, that must be it. There was nothing wrong, he was just tired. Kevin silently began to continue to his notes. 

The teacher asked a question and Kevin's hand flew up, just like aways. He recited the answer and felt a surge of pride when the teacher praised him for being correct.

There it was. That little look of pride Kevin wore when he was praised, or when he won something. It wasn't fair, Connor thought, that he happened to be placed in a way that he could see the sparkle in the brunet's eyes.

He realized that he was probably looking at the boy a lot. He decided that after class, he'd apologize. He'd make up some excuse, like 'oh, you remind me of an actor, but I just can't place my finger on who it is'. Something would come to mind. But he knew he'd have to get it off his chest somehow, since he felt awful about it. Dirty, almost. He also felt like he was making the other uncomfortable. 

Usually, he was very verbal in class. Answering questions, asking questions of his own. But today, he was extremely quiet. He was too focused on not staring at the boy across the room.

Kevin's chest was puffed out proudly for the next couple minutes. See, he wasn't even thinking about-

Darn, there he goes again, thinking about that boy. His chest changed from being puffed out to tightening, giving him a sinking feeling. 

Finally, Kevin couldn't resist the urge to glance back at him. For a second, he took in the boy, almost admiring him before he whipped his head back around and continued to scribble in his notebook. He wasn't even writing anything down, just pretending to in order to seem busy. He felt his face heat up and prayed to god the boy hadn't seen him.

Unfortunately for the both of them, Connor had definitely noticed. 

Maybe, just maybe, Connor thought.. maybe he is g—

No, he's straight. And even if he was...that word...it wouldn't matter. Connor was over him. He had promised himself this. 

The class seemed to drag on forever. Connor had resorted to staring at the clock, which seemed to be moving back in time. It was just so darn slow.

Finally, though, the class had ended. Connor gathered his things, and hurried to Kevin's desk, wanting to beat the group of girls who would follow him around.

"Hi..." He said tentatively. He reminded himself to stay in character. He was just apologizing. He was straight. He was not going to get flustered. He was a theatre kid, meaning that snapping into a role was extremely easy for him.

"I just wanted to say sorry for kinda staring you down. I'm just really out of it today, family problems are really getting to my head. I kept on getting dazed, you know?" 

This wasn't entirely a lie. His family kept pressing him about having a male name on his body. They had already sent him to therapy, that he still attended, hoping things would change. It was quite stressful.

Kevin glanced up at him, taken aback by how forward he was. So, this boy really was staring at him, it wasn't his imagination.

Finally able to get a good look at the boy, Kevin looked him up and down as the boy spoke. He quickly corrected himself and moved his gaze up to the boy's lovely eyes-

Kevin cleared his throat, holding his head high. "It's okay, I hardly noticed you." He beamed, flashing his signature smile, the one that made the girls around him burst into fits of giggles. "Though, I didn't catch your name, what is it?"

Kevin mentally face palmed, he couldn't believe he was asking such a stupid question. There was just no purpose in asking and he was just going to be let down.

Connor felt his heart beat faster as soon as Kevin smiled. That was the exact smile that he knew was going to be the death of him. It was simply perfect. 

It took a second for the question to sink in. He was too busy thinking about how relieved he was that Kevin hadn't noticed his staring, and about that smile. 

"Oh," he started, as if he were surprised to be asked the question. He hadn't expected Kevin to care.

"Connor." He paused, "Connor McKinley." He decided to add. "Obviously I know your name, you're practically a celebrity."

Kevin's heart stopped. He sucked in a breath, could this be?

No. Of course not. Even if it was it didn't matter because he didn't care about soulmates, he was going to heaven and nothing could get in the way of that. No matter how cute this boy was. Plus, Kevin didn't even know what name was tattooed on this boy. He didn't spot a visible tattoo when he checked him out. For all he knew this could be an entirely different Connor.

"Yeah, well, nice to meet you, Connor." Kevin held out his hand for the boy to shake in an unusual attempt to see if his tattoo was on his arm somewhere.

Connor took Kevin's hand, giving it a small shake. While the tattoo wasn't on his arm, it was still made visible when his shirt had slightly risen up. Just the top of the name could be seen.

"Nice to meet you, too." He replied, giving a small smile. He opened his mouth to say more, but decided that Kevin was probably just being polite, and didn't want anything to do with him.

"See you around!" He decided to say, before turning and leaving the classroom.

Kevin checked his arm before noticing the boy's shirt had ridden up, slightly revealing a name. He squinted at the boy's waist, trying to make out the name. Before he could, Connor had pulled away and ran off.

Kevin sat there in awe, nobody ever ran off like that on him, usually they would gush at him and he'd have to make them leave. 

He needed to see that boy's waist. Except, that would definitely be weird if he was always checking Connor out there. After all, it was WAY too close to his crotch.

Kevin picked up his items, not paying any attention to his crowd of admirers, and followed after Connor. Maybe if he just talked to him everything would make sense-

Connor ducked into the bathroom, placing his bag down beside him. He splashed a bit of cold water onto his face, trying to wake himself up from whatever trance he was in. Talking to Kevin had been enough. Physical contact, even if it was a simple handshake, was too much.

He had convinced himself he was over Kevin as soon as he heard that his name wasn't on the boy's body. He didn't want to pretend that he had a chance, when he clearly didn't. He just didn't need that sort of thing in his life.

Kevin stood in front of the bathroom door, considering if he should go in or not. He had lost his group in the hall when he ducked behind a teacher's aid, but now he was regretting it.

Sighing, Kevin pushed open the door and stepped inside, his eyes making his way over to Connor. He walked over to talk to him but last minute he chickened out and ducked into the stall.

He put his head in his hands, what was he doing? He shouldn't be stalking a boy, Heavenly Father was surely frowning upon him now. He tried to muster up the courage to go back out.

Connor had felt a presence beside him, and tried to dry off his face just a bit, so he could look up. He heard the closing of a door, though, and saw there was nobody around. Good. It was one of his biggest fears, being beat up. He was sure anybody who would want to interact with him in the bathroom of all places, would probably be looking to hurt him. 

That was probably his anxiety acting up.

He looked at his reflection, fixing up his hair. He then gave his arm a harsh pinch. Something his therapist had told him to do, whenever he had gay thoughts. It was a little late, since the thoughts had happened a few minutes ago, but it still counted, since he really couldn't get the thought of Kevin out of his head.

Kevin took a deep breath, trying to convince himself just to open the door and talk to Connor. Not in a weird way, he just needed to figure out the name on Connor's waist and then he could relax because obviously Connor would have a girl's name.

Kevin unlocked the stall door and stepped out, making his way over to the sink next to Connor so he could pretend to wash his hands.

Kevin tried to look nonchalant as he glanced over at Connor, but he wasn't sure if it showed or not. His heart was racing and his hands shook as he turned the faucet.

"Hey." He coughed.

    Connor flinched, he had been too focused on his arm to notice Kevin approach him. He recognized the voice instantly, and glanced over to the boy beside him. 

    "Hey," He said almost shyly. His outgoing facade had completely disappeared, replaced by a sheepish one. He couldn't help but think, was Kevin going to hurt him? Did he know about his...thoughts?

    However, he felt oddly safe around the brunet.

    Kevin licked his lips before continuing, "You, uh, ran out of there quick." He gulped, watching the boy's waist. How in the heck was he going to get him to pull his shirt up a bit?

    Kevin glanced back up to the boy's eyes. Connor looked almost- worried? Oh gosh, had he spotted Kevin trying to catch a glimpse of his waist? Did Connor figure out that Kevin must have a guy's name?

    "I-I figured we could maybe, we could hang out sometime." Kevin grinned sheepishly.

    Connor froze, clearly unable to believe what he was hearing. 

    "The worshipped Kevin Price wants to hang out with a theatre geek?" He asked, almost in a teasing tone.

    "I wish I could say yes. I'd love to hang out sometime, but my parents are really, really strict about who I'm around, I doubt they'd approve of you." He hated to sound harsh, but it was true. 

    Kevin's name, as soon as his parents would hear it, he knew they'd do everything in their power to make sure he stayed away from the boy. Even though he was sure his tattoo was referring to a different Kevin, his parents wouldn't take the chance.

    "It's.. it's nothing personal. I promise. You're a great guy." He said through a sigh.

    Kevin almost shrank, he looked down at the sink, feeling his face turn scarlet. He'd never been rejected like that. 

    Kevin didn't know why he was getting so worked up anyways. Obviously this wasn't the Connor that had Kevin's name tattooed on his body because then he would be equally curious to know Kevin's tattoo.

    "Then, I guess I'll see you around." Kevin said quietly before bolting out of the bathroom.

    Connor frowned, instantly feeling stupid. He should've known that Kevin freaking Price wouldn't take lightly to rejection. The worst part was, Connor desperately wanted to be around the boy. He just knew that it would cause so much trouble for him.

    Realizing how quickly, and almost nervously Kevin had bolted out of the bathroom, Connor couldn't help but feel like something was up. 

    He quickly dried off his face with his shirt, threw his bag over his shoulder, and followed the other. Though it may have been a bit creepy, he simply wanted answers. He was a very emotional guy, and he hated seeing people looking like they were feeling anything less than great. Maybe he could at least try to cheer Kevin up?

    Kevin bit his lip, dashing through the hall and purposing avoiding his paparazzi of friends. He felt tears sting his eyes and instantly felt foolish. 

    Why the heck was he crying? It wasn't like Connor was a teacher or his parents. It probably wasn't even the Connor that was tattooed on him. After all, the boy knew his name was Kevin and he wouldn't have flat out rejected him if he were his soulmate.

    Kevin kept his head down and stopped at his locker, grabbing his book for English.

    Connor stopped by Kevin's locker, noticing that there was something wrong. Kevin never had his head down. It was always held high. 

    "Kevin, I didn't mean to," He started, letting out a small sigh. He felt like this was his fault. "Look, I really, really want to hang out sometime, I know you don't take well to rejection, and I'm not rejecting you at all." He paused, and put a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

    Kevin froze when Connor set his hand on his shoulder. He hadn't ever had things not go his way, so he couldn't hide his feelings as easily as others could.

    Kevin quickly wiped his eyes of almost nonexistent tears and turned to beam at Connor.

    "I'm perfectly fine, you just surprised me is all." He smiled, brushing Connor's hand off his shoulder, he didn't know if he could handle the boy touching him for any longer. "You really don't have to hang out with me if you don't want to."

    Connor leaned against the lockers dramatically, letting out an exasperated sigh. What was he supposed to tell Kevin? He didn't want the boy to think he didn't want to hang out with him. Because he did. He really, really did. 

    "That's the thing, I do. You're amazing, literally perfect. You'd be a great friend to have." He flashed the other a small smile, "but my parents really don't like the idea of me being around..." he waved his hand dismissively. Then, he thought about the pros and cons of opening up a bit to Kevin. Pros, are that Kevin seemed like a really nice guy. Cons, would be that he'd be opening up to somebody, something he rarely did.

    Screw it. 

    "It's the whole soulmate thing. They're really religious. I am too, but not as much as them. They really aren't happy about me having a tattoo that's a masculine name, they really don't want me to end up with him. The bright side is, that we're trying to get me fixed."

    Was that a good enough explanation? 

    Probably not.

   Kevin listened to each word Connor said carefully and stood there in shock until his brain could fully piece together that Connor had a boy's name as his tattoo.

    So, that must certainly mean that the name was Kevin. After all, his parents wouldn't have minded it was a guy as long as it wasn't THE guy, right?

    Kevin had a million responses in his head, but he didn't know what to say. He honestly hadn't expected Connor to have his name.

    Or really a boy's name at all.

    Did he want to tell Connor he had his name tattooed? Or did he want to continue with the original plan, to go without a soulmate. Kevin decided to press further,

    "What name do you have?"

    "What name do I have?" Connor echoed, debating whether or not he should answer the question. 

    He decided to answer.

    "It's Kevin." He said with a light laugh. "At first I thought it was you.. but then I heard about Connie." He paused, his eyes suddenly filling with regret. He just realized that he had pretty much come out to the most popular guy in school.

    "Please don't tell anyone about the tattoo? I usually just say that I don't have one, if anybody asks. I don't know why I told you. But please, please keep it a secret. I don't want too many people to know that I'm... you know."

    Kevin was pretty sure his heart had stopped.

Connor. Had. His. Name.

This time Kevin froze for longer than he was pretty sure was socially acceptable. He knew that someday he might find his soulmate, but he hadn't figured that he'd actually start to LIKE his soulmate.

Looking back on it, Kevin now thought that that was kind of dumb.

"Well, um." Kevin gulped and glanced around at the people in the hallway, there were just too many people there. Kevin grabbed a hold of Connor's arm and began to lead him through the halls to a more secure location where Kevin could show him.

Connor was clearly surprised by the sudden action. Nervous, as well. Kevin was probably going to hurt him. His parents had always told him that one of the reasons he couldn't be a 'fag', was because he'd be beat up at school. They had tried to scare him out of it. Because of that, he was always on his toes, terrified that he would be going home with a black eye.

As much as he wanted to pull away, however... he couldn't. He had a large spark of hope that Kevin wouldn't actually hurt him. Maybe he'd want to continue the conversation in private. That was always possible.


	2. The Project

Kevin lead Connor down the hall and into a secluded part of the library, between bookshelves so no one could see them.

"So, um, your tattoo says Kevin and," He took in a deep breath, after this there was no going back, did he really want Connor to know that they were soulmates? That would ruin his entire plan-

Kevin eliminated all doubts from his mind and tugged the waistband of his jeans slightly down to reveal his tattoo.

Connor's eyes widened. He stared at the tattoo for a few seconds, sincerely amazed. He didn't think he even had a chance being friends with somebody as wonderful as Kevin, let alone soulmates. 

"So, you lied about Connie?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. He couldn't help but wonder how he hadn't realized that 'Connie' was dangerously close to 'Connor'. In fact, it had been a childhood nickname.

Kevin coiled back, stilling looking down at his tattoo, ashamed.

"Of course I lied, my reputation around here would change drastically if anyone knew I had a soulmate that was a guy." Kevin glanced up at Connor desperately. "Which is why you can't tell a soul, okay? I want to get into heaven and I can't if I'm-"

Kevin swallowed, what was he?

"If my soulmate is a boy." He finished lamely. 

"I promise I won't tell anyone. You can trust me." Connor said gently, smiling softly. He understood where Kevin was coming from. He himself wanted to get into Heaven, too. 

"I.. I know how you feel. We can just... pretend that we aren't supposed to be together. We can live our lives not acting on our... thoughts, and we can get our paradise planet." He added after a bit of hesitation. 

There was a part of him, deep down, that said 'no. He's your soulmate. A perfect one, at that. Ask him out.'

He managed to push that part of himself down. It was clear that neither of them wanted to engage in sinful activities, such as being with another guy.

Kevin let out a relieved sigh, nodding quickly. He was so glad Connor understood why they couldn't be together.

"Thank you." Kevin grinned widely and pulled Connor into a hug. However, the minute he did, he regretted it. It made Kevin almost want to be with Connor-

Kevin promptly ended the hug, tearing away.

"Alright, we can be friends, but as far as I'm concerned, you have no soulmate and my soulmate's name is Connie." Kevin beamed. "Not that we both know who our, um, soulmate is we can move forward with our lives!"

Connor tensed at the hug, immediately feeling butterflies in his stomach. 

No. That wasn't ok. It was disgusting. He wasn't supposed to have these feelings for guys.

As soon as Kevin pulled away, Connor pinched his own arm. Twice. There. The gay thoughts were gone.

"I like that idea. Who needs a soulmate, anyways?" 

The little voice inside of him was screaming at him, telling him not to be so stupid, to turn it off

"And, just out of curiosity, do your parents know? About your tattoo saying 'Connor'?"

Kevin kept his eyes everywhere but on Connor, it was easier that way because he couldn't have sinful thoughts about Connor if he wasn't looking at him.

"Of course." He sighed. "They say I can repent though and I can get into heaven if I just follow the scriptures and never have sinful thoughts for another boy. I've done really good my whole life, though, I think they're proud of me."

Kevin dared one glance at Connor. Gosh, he was starting to question himself, and that simply wasn't acceptable.

"I think we're going to be late for class." He worried.

Connor smiled, looking up at Kevin. Gosh, he was beautiful—

Another pinch to his arm. He couldn't have these thoughts. 

"I'm sure they're proud of you. I can't see why they wouldn't be." He said sincerely, looking down to avoid eye contact.

"As for being late, we'll be on time if we run!" He chimed, quickly changing the mood. It came with being an actor. He waved, before turning and hurrying to the English classroom. 

He had to put in a lot of effort to not think about Kevin. He couldn't help but feel a bit of heartbreak. He had always wanted to find love. He wanted to get married, maybe even have a child or two.

But he wasn't allowed to do so. Therefore he didn't truly want it. 

Sure, it hurt, but it was for the best. He kept telling himself that. He simply couldn't be with a boy, and the boy he was supposed to be with felt the same.

Which was a good thing.

Kevin followed after him, feeling relieved and disappointed at the the same time.

Sure, he found his soulmate. It brought him relief to know, instead of constantly wondering who the mystery boy tattooed on his waist was. However, now that he had met him, he couldn't do anything. This is supposedly the person is meant to be with and they both just agreed not to be with each other. 

That was a good thing. Kevin reminded himself. Connor could've told everyone his secret, but he didn't.

He liked Connor.

Not like that! He corrected himself. 

Kevin stepped into his English classroom and took a seat at the front of the class.

Connor had sat down at the very back of the class. He felt like he was pinching his arm every five seconds. He'd have to bring this up to his therapist. He couldn't keep having these... thoughts. He couldn't like Kevin in that way, no matter what his hipbone said. 

He glanced to Kevin briefly, before staring back at the books in front of him. Why did he have to be in at least three of Kevin's classes? He knew they were in each other's math class, as well. Things would be much easier if they were separated more often.

Kevin tried to focus on his work, he really did, but somehow his mind always wandered back to Connor, no matter how hard he tried.

He bit his lip, desperately trying to focus on the worksheet.

Subject-verb agreement for-

What did Connor think of him? Why was he so eager to not be soulmates? Was he not perfect enough for this boy?

Kevin internally groaned, almost wishing he had never met Connor, that would've made everything a lot easier.

    The class was an absolute mess for Connor. He couldn't get Kevin off of his mind, and his arm was starting to hurt. He managed to finish his worksheet. Thankfully. But he was surprised he hadn't written 'Kevin' everywhere on the paper.

    Soon, the teacher was at the front of the classroom again, announcing a simple writing assignment.

    It wasn't an individual project.

    As the list went on, Connor realized that the partners were being paired according to alphabetical order. 

    And to his 'luck', there was nobody in the class with a last name starting with N, or O. 

    When he and Kevin were paired together, he felt like he was going to have a heart attack. He figured this was God's way of getting entertainment, by torturing boys who loved other boys.

    Kevin wanted to sink down in his chair, this definitely wouldn't help him forget about Connor.

    Tenderly, he plucked himself from his seat and headed over to Connor.

    "Looks like we're partners!" He flopped down in the seat next to the boy. "Are you good at English or?"

    Kevin was used to doing group projects by himself. After all, no one could do it like he could, he was the best. He had straight A's and was at the top of the class, he planned to keep it that way.

   Even if this boy was supposedly his soulmate, Kevin wouldn't risk anything for him.

     Connor looked to the other, instantly wishing that he had another soulmate. Maybe one who was easier to not fall in love with? Or at least one who didn't look like a model and a movie star combined?

    "I—uh, yeah, I'm.. I'm good at English." He mumbled shyly, looking over the information sheet. "We can do a presentation, or a writing piece. Which one would you prefer? I don't mind either way."

    Kevin pretended to think about it for a second, but he already knew his answer.

    "I would prefer to do the presentation." He shrugged. "But we can do either." 

    Kevin loved doing presentations, it meant he got to speak in front of a crowd that was fully paying attention to him. Just the thought of talking in front of the group gave the boy excited chills.

    Kevin pulled out a piece a paper and began to write down some ideas for their project.

    "Hey, do you want to come over to my house tonight to work on the project?" Kevin asked. "That way we don't have you go to your house because, you know..."

    Connor nodded, instantly liking the idea of a presentation. He saw presentations as performances. He loved them.

    "Presentation it is!" He said cheerfully. "And yes for coming over to your house. I'll just have to lie to my parents about your name." He gave a small smile, and passed his pink day planner over to Kevin. "Here, put your information at the back of the book," he flipped to one of the pages to store people's names, numbers, etcetera, "and I'll get in touch with you when I get home."

    "Okay, cool." Kevin ran his hand down the planners page, almost examining it.

    It was just so, feminine?

    Kevin grabbed his pen and began to scribble down his information, his hand writing neat and simple. 

    "You're a lot more organized than I am, which is saying something." Kevin chuckled, finishing up. "I bet our presentation with be incredible!"

    "Thanks." Connor replied with a smile. "I'm a perfectionist. I need things to be completely organized. Not necessarily neat, but organized." He explained. "And I agree, the presentation's going to be great! I know that we're both good speakers and hard workers, that really pays off."

    "I completely agree, most of the time I get stuck with somebody I don't want to be with." Kevin's mind wandered to that time he was partners on a chemistry lab with Arnold Cunningham. "But, I'm really glad you're my partner!" 

    Kevin grabbed a piece of paper from his binder and began to sketch ideas for their project.

    "I've actually been really lucky as far as partners go. I've been paired with really good friends of mine often." Connor replied, suddenly realizing how lucky he was to have multiple friends from dance, and theatre. It made partner work so much easier.

    "Alright. History of literature." He said, writing the title on a page in his notebook. His writing was in cursive, and was very tidy. Some would call it pretty. 

    "We should probably start with notes, hm?"

    Kevin nodded, leaning down and pulling his spiral notebook from his backpack. He set it on the desk between them. His notebook wasn't quite as bright and sparkly as Connor's, it was black and had no doodles or extra writing inside, it was purely for his notes.

    Kevin flipped to the chapter they were currently on. "So, what do you think for-" Kevin glanced at Connor's small, almost cute hand writing and had to pause. 

   "Oh, um, so where should we should we start?" Kevin flushed, looking back at his own notes.

"We should divide the topics. We've gotta cover six. So we'll each take three. We'll do the research, and put everything together into a nice-looking presentation." He decided.   
"If spotlights and sparkly costumes were allowed, I'd add those in, too." He added with a giggle. "But, unfortunately, we're being forced to keep it fairly simple."

He started to write down the project's information, just in case he lost the sheet. He was starting to get the hang of this, 'not falling in love with your soulmate' thing. Years of learning how to 'turn it off' were obviously becoming his saving grace, but seeing Kevin in the corner of his eye was killing him. The boy was just so, annoying. Did he really have to be that pretty? 

Kevin's all around perfectness. That was the only thing Connor found annoying, and not in the bad way.

Kevin nodded eagerly, secretly quite impressed by Connor's plan.

"Alright, sounds good, let's get to work!" Kevin grinned, flipping through his notebook.

Kevin was not handling this 'not falling in love with your soulmate' thing very well, which was a problem for him. Usually, things came easily to Kevin and he hardly had to work at all to make everyone proud. But now, he was having feelings he didn't even know he had.

Kevin pushed the thought from his mind and began to work. The faster he worked the faster he'd be done with the project and the faster Connor would get out of his brain.

See? Easy as pie.

"Alright. To make it easier, I think you should take the first three, and I'll take the last three. If there's a topic one of us struggle with, we can do it together." Connor suggested, now writing down the topics he'd be taking, putting little stars next to them. "The bell's going to ring really soon, we're better off to properly start tonight." He said after glancing at the clock. Thank goodness, it would be lunch very soon. He was starving. Mostly because of the emotional stress. 

"Feel free to sit with Naba, Chris and I if you want to get away from the hormonal teen girls following you around. I promise, we won't try to touch your hair." He flashed a smile, before starting to pack up his things.

"Thanks, that actually sounds like a lot of fun." Kevin grinned, putting away his notebook. It would actually be nice for him to be around people who didn't just like him for his looks. 

He was genuinely looking forward to it.

Kevin threw his backpack over his shoulder as soon as the bell rang and, giving Connor a small wave goodbye, headed out of the classroom.

His paparazzi of girls instantly surrounded him. But now, they didn't make him feel important or good, they just made him feel lonely and Kevin found himself wishing he would've stayed back and walked with Connor.

Connor waved back, and quickly met up with Naba and Chris. He told them that Kevin—Kevin Price, might join them in the cafeteria. He explained that they were growing closer, but he kept his word as far as keeping the soulmate thing a secret went. 

He never, ever broke a promise. And he prided himself on that.

He made it to his locker, waving to his friends as they all parted in separate directions. 

He glanced in the magnetic mirror that lived on the inside of his locker door. The border was lavender, and was decorated with fake gems. He still remained surprised that his family even allowed him to like the colours he did. 

After making sure he looked presentable, by fixing up his hair a little bit, he closed the locker door, and headed to the cafeteria. He couldn't help but hope that Kevin would take him up on his offer.

Kevin threw his books into his locker by himself, the girl he usually has carrying them looked absolutely devastated, but that really wasn't on Kevin's mind right now. He flashed her a small smile before heading to the cafeteria. 

Kevin slipped into the line and made his usual greetings to the lunch ladies, who always gave him extras. 

"Good afternoon, how's your daughter?" Kevin grinned at the lunch lady handing out grilled cheeses.

"Absolutely wonderful, Kevin, thanks for asking!"

Now equipped with two grilled cheeses, Kevin stood in the middle of the cafeteria, trying to spot Connor while also trying not to be spotted by his group of girls, who would all be very confused as to why he wasn't sitting in his usual spot.

Kevin didn't really care, though.

     Both Chris and Naba introduced themselves, although they very well knew who Kevin was. He was like the Beyoncé of the school, or something.

    "I would just like to say," Connor said, glancing to the table of confused girls, "that the looks on your servant's faces are the best thing I've seen all this week." He laughed, before taking a bite of the salad he had brought from home. He always brought his own food, since he kept himself on a diet for dance purposes. 

    "They just look so... confused? Upset?.. whatever it is, it's hilarious." He added.

    Kevin chuckled, looking over at the table where he usually sits. Sure enough, all the girls at the table looked confused and... a little bit lost? Some were whispering while others were desperately asking if Kevin was okay.

    "Yeah, I'm worried what they might do if they find me, though." He smiled, looking back at Connor. "They might just come over and steal me."

    Kevin picked at the food on his tray, he wasn't feeling hungry today, too much had happened and it was making him queasy.

"What's their deal, anyways?" Connor asked, raising a brow. "I doubt all of them have 'Kevin' written somewhere on their bodies. And all of them probably know about Connie. So, they must not be trying to marry you, or something." He pointed out. The way he was talking, made it sound like he had no clue what the actual name on Kevin's waist was. 

He was simply a talented actor.

He realized his friends were being awfully quiet, and by the sly smiles they were sending him, he knew it was because they knew how he felt about Kevin. Knowing those two, they were waiting for a love confession. 

It should have been common logic that it wasn't going to happen.

Kevin shrugged, "Some people like to date before they find their soulmate. Kind of like practice, I think? I've also heard in some cases that people don't want to end up with their soulmate." 

Kevin looked over at everyone else at the table.

"Either way, I don't know what those girls' issues are, but they have way too much free time on their hands, they follow me practically everywhere."

Across the cafeteria he noticed one girl stand up and start searching through the crowd. Kevin lowered his head as to not be seen.

Connor felt his heart drop when Kevin mentioned not wanting to end up with a soulmate.

Right. He wasn't going to be getting a significant other anytime soon.

That was fine. He didn't need one. Plus, he wasn't allowed to have one anyways, it was too sinful.

"I mean, you're a really big catch." Connor pointed out, "I can see why they're fond of you. I just think they should be a little less creepy."

"I completely agree." Kevin said, agreeing that they should be less creepy AND that he was a catch. Kevin Price lacked very few things, but one of those things was humility.

Kevin watched the girl walking through the cafeteria out of the corner of his eye, he silently prayed that she wouldn't come their way.

"So, who else do hang out with?" Kevin asked, glancing at Chris and Naba. There were hardly any people at their table.

"Oh, just the people from theatre, and the dancers." Connor replied dismissively. He was too distracted by the fact that the girl was dangerously close. He could tell Kevin didn't want to be spotted.

"Be right back." he mumbled, before standing up and heading over to the girl.

He asked her if she was looking for Kevin, getting an eager nod in response. He then sent her in the opposite direction, claiming he was in the library.

The ginger then headed back to the table, dramatically flopping into his chair.

"Problem solved."


End file.
